interreg v-a greece-italy programme 2014-2020

INTERREG V-A GREECE-ITALY

PROGRAMME 2014-2020

PATRA 24/04/2018 PREVEZA 26/04/2018

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FIRST LEVEL CONTROL –

GUIDELINES & PROCEDURES

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General Guidelines (1/8)

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•  Regulation (EU) 1303/2013, Article 125 – Functions of the Managing Authority

•  Regulation (EU) 1299/2013, Article 23 – Functions of the Managing Authority

•  Regulation (EU) 481/2014, specific rules on eligibility of expenditure for cooperation programmes

•  European Commission Guidance for Member States on Management Verifications (EGESIF_14_12_final - 17/9/2015)

•  Project Implementation Manual


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•  1. Centralized System - Public FLC body at national or regional level

•  2. De-Centralized System -

Private FLC body

GREECE

DecentralisedSystemRegisterofControllers

ITALYDecentralisedSystemIndependent Control lers(Internal/External)


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According to Article 125 of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013 The Managing Authority must: (a)  verify that:

o  the co-financed products and services have been delivered o  that expenditure declared by the beneficiaries has been paid

and o  that it complies with applicable law, the operational programme

and the conditions for support of the operation;

(b) ensure that: o  beneficiaries involved in the implementation of operations reimbursed

on the basis of eligible costs actually incurred, maintain either a separate accounting system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to the operation


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According to Article 125 of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013 The Managing Authority must: (a)  verify that:

o  the co-financed products and services have been delivered o  that expenditure declared by the beneficiaries has been paid

and o  that it complies with applicable law, the operational programme

and the conditions for support of the operation;

(b) ensure that: o  beneficiaries involved in the implementation of operations reimbursed

on the basis of eligible costs actually incurred, maintain either a separate accounting system or an adequate accounting code for all transactions relating to the operation


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The verifications should cover in particular: ü  That expenditure relates to the eligible period and has been paid;

ü  That the expenditure relates to an approved operation;

ü  Compliance with National and Union eligibility and procurement rules;

ü  Adequacy of supporting documents and existence of an adequate audit

trail;

ü  Compliance with State aid rules, sustainable development, equal

opportunity and non-discrimination requirements;

ü  The respect of EU and National rules on publicity;

ü  Physical progress of the operation measured by common and Programme

specific output and, where applicable, result indicators;


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According to Article 125 of Regulation (EU) 1303/2013 Verifications shall include the following procedures: a.  administrative verifications of operations

b.  on-the-spot verifications of operations


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Administrative verifications during project implementation All applications for reimbursement by beneficiaries, whether intermediate or final, shall be subject to administrative verifications based on an examination of the claim and relevant supporting documentation such as :


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On the spot verifications : On-the-spot verifications should be

planned in advance to ensure that they are effective, in particular in view of the certification that the expenditure entered in the accounts complies with applicable law.

: Generally, notification of the on-the-spot verifications should be given in order to ensure that the relevant staff (e.g. project manager, engineer, accountant) and documentation (in particular, financial records including bank statements and invoices) are made available by the beneficiary during the verification.


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Management verifications of of the applications for reimbursement submitted by beneficiaries are required by the Regulation CPR.

The intensity, frequency and coverage of on-the-spot verifications is dependent upon: o  the complexity of the operation, o  the amount of public support to an operation, o  the level of risk identified by management verifications, o  the extent of detailed checks during the administrative verifications and

audits of the AA.

Procedures(1/9)

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•  Tender Documents •  Invoices •  Bank statements •  Table of verified

expenditure • ……

Beneficiary

•  Table of verified expenditure

•  Verifications Control Checklist

•  Verification Report •  Certificate of verified

expenditure

FLC

Procedures(2/9)

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1.  Guidance for Management verifications

2.  Table of verified expenditure

3.  Verifications Control Check list

4.  Verification Report

5.  Certificate of verified expenditure

6.  Working Timesheet

7.  Personnel Timesheet

Common Documents

Beneficiaries & FLCs

FLCs

Beneficiaries

Procedures(3/9)

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Guidance on management verifications

Procedures(4/9)

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v  Beneficiary’s information

v  Contractor’s payment documents

v  Beneficiary’s payment documents

v  FLC results

Table of verified expenditure

Procedures(5/9)

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v  Beneficiary Information

v  Audit trail of Project documents

v  Audit Trail Checklist of expenditure

v  Categories of eligible expenditure

v  Compliance with information and publicity requirements

v  Compliance with public procurement rules

v  Compliance with EU policies

v  Physical Implementation

v  Fraud Indication

v  Recommendations

Verification Control Check list

Procedures(6/9)

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v  Information on project and progress report

v  Information on Designated Controller

v  Verification methodology

v  Expenditure declared and certified by budget line

v  Description of findings during on the spot check

v  Conclusions and recommendations

Verification Report

Procedures(7/9)

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v  Information for the project and progress report

v  Information for the Beneficiary

v  Verification / certified amount

Certificate of verified expenditure

3. Verification

Methodology desk-based

on-the-spot

Date(s) of on-the-spot verification DD.MM.YYYY - DD.MM.YYYY

Amount certified

Total certified EUR

ERDF in EUR

National contribution in EUR

Procedures(8/9)

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v  General Information for the personnel

v  Working hour per day and deliverable

v  Hourly rate

v  Requested amount per deliverable

v  Total requested amount for the specific application for reimbursement

v  Signatures by the employee and the responsible supervising person

Working Timesheet

Procedures(9/9)

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v  General Information for the personnel

v  Working hour per day and beneficiary’s project

v  Hourly rate

v  Requested amount per project

v  Total requested amount for the specific application for reimbursement

v  Signatures by the employee and the responsible supervising person

Personnel Timesheet

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(1/3)

q  Each Beneficiary (Lead or Project) submits electronically a request

for the verification of expenditure to the respecting FLC body of each

country, which is accompanied by a file with all proper

documentation. The Beneficiary enters the expenditure data in

predefined MIS screens that include the project data, but also uploads

specific documents, which are in fact the verification file (e.g. tender

documents, proof of publicity actions, invoices, payments, receipts etc.).

q  Also, each Beneficiary fills in the “Table of Expenditure” in a predefined

MIS form. In this stage, the MIS conducts a series of logical validation

checks (e.g. the declared expenditure of a specific deliverable, or/and a

specific type of cost don’t exceed the approved budget in the AF).

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(2/3)

q  The Controllers proceed to the administrative check of the above file

(when it is complete).

q  The Controller fills in the “Table of Expenditure” in the MIS Screen with the

verified and not verified expenditure amounts.

q  The Controller fills in the “Verification control checklist” in a predefined MIS

Screen.

q  Finally, the Controller fills in the “Verification Report” in a predefined MIS

Screen.

q  The Controller prints for signature the above mentioned 4 documents

through the MIS and submit them to the partner, according to “Programme

implementation manual”.

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(3/3)

q  The MA/JS, in order a payment application to be done, checks/validates

the relevant data which have submitted by the Controller, through a

specific MIS Screen.

q  The Certifying Authority will be able to draw, through a specific MIS

Screen, the table of eligible verified expenditure per budget line that will

include in the following payment application to the European Commission.

The payment applications per accounting year, are made on the basis of

the validated by the MA expenditure, within the accounting year.

Procedures for Greek Partners(1/4)

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q  The first time, the Beneficiary submits to the Unit C

of the MA a complete file of the paid-out

expenditures and supporting documentation

q  The MA issues a Decision for the selection of the

controller/s (random selection of at least three

members of the Register)

q  The Beneficiary proceeds to the relevant award of

the service contract with a Controller according

with its legal framework

q  From the second submission for expenditure

verification and onwards, the beneficiary submits

all documentation to the selected controller and cc

to Unit C of MA


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q  The submitted data MUST be correct, on-time

and detailed and concern:

ü  The beneficiary (legal framework, VAT

status, declarations, organization chart,

methodology of indirect cost calculation, etc.)

ü  Project’s data (Application Form, Subsidy

Contract, Partnership Agreement,

declarations, management team definition,

etc.)

ü  Application’s for verification data (tender

procurements, contracts, invoices,

payments, staff time sheets, etc.)


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q  The Controller, within 5 working days from the day he/

she receives the electronic file (or 7 working days after

the end of the on-the-spot verification) shall issue and

submit to the Beneficiary by e-mail, copying to Unit C,

the relevant FLC documents

q  The Beneficiary can submit an objection within five (5)

working days after receiving the aforementioned

documents

q  The Controller, within five (5) working days after

receiving the objection, examines the objection and the

accompanying documentation and submits the final

Verification Certificate


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q  In case of clarifications and/or supplementary

data, from the Beneficiary, the above deadlines

shall be interrupted until the Beneficiary sends a

reply, but not more than five (5) working days, as

proved by the email communication between the

Controller and the Beneficiary (the Unit C of the

MA shall always be in copy).

The Beneficiaries shall submit their applications

for expenditure verification at least every

semester/trimester and preferably whenever the

expenditure exceeds 15.000€

UNITC“VERIFICATIONOFEXPENDITURES”MANAGINGAUTHORITYOFEUROPEANTERRITORIALCOOPERATIONPROGRAMMESTel:+302310469600,469620,469614,469622,469672Fax:+302310469602e-mails:[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],dvou)[email protected]

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